When it comes to surviving the cruel, unforgiving world that is Valheim, nothing beats a good bow and arrow. After all, why go nose to nose with a Wraith when you can just shoot it in the face from 30 meters away? There are four bows you can obtain in Valheim, but we’re here to talk about the best Valheim bow. Nothing can stand in your way when you’ve got this bad boy in your inventory. Here’s how to craft, upgrade it, and how to choose the right arrows to pair it with for maximum monster-slaying potential.
The Draugr Fang Bow
Just carrying this thing around is a bold statement to the denizens of Valheim’s wildlands: stay away from the guy who lines his bow with the teeth of his fallen enemies. The Draugr Fang isn’t just the most powerful bow in Valheim, it’s one of the best weapons in the game. It has the highest piercing damage among bows and is poisonous to boot, meaning you can do some serious damage from a distance.
Draugr Fang Bow Recipe
Before we begin: if you haven’t yet, go and kill the game’s 3rd boss first. The silver needed for the Draugr Fang recipe isn’t obtainable before you do so.
Prepare to do a bit of hunting to get your hands on the materials needed to craft the Draugr Bow. You’ll also need some powerful gear — this scavenger hunt is going to take you into the Swamp, home to undead draugrs and poisonous blobs. Go in ready with a healthy supply of potions and food to keep yourself alive.
To craft the Draugr Fang bow, you’ll need the following items:
- 2 Deer Hide
- 10 Ancient Bark
- 10 Guck
- 20 Silver
You can get Deer Hide by hunting deer in the Black Forest or Meadows biomes. Or you can raid a nearby Fuling Village and steal a few from their tanning racks.
Ancient Bark is acquired by chopping down Ancient Trees in the Swamp biome, and you’ll need a Bronze Axe or higher to do so.
While you’re in there, keep an eye out for Gucksacks, which are glowing, green sacks that can be found on trees in the swamp. Gucksacks contain Guck, the next crafting material on the list. Gucksacks can only be destroyed with a melee weapon, so don’t go into the swamp without one!
Silver is refined Silver Ore, which can be mined from deposits in the Mountain biome. One Silver Ore can be smelted into a single Silver.
How to Upgrade the Draugr Fang Bow
Weapons in Valheim can be upgraded up to three times. Each upgrade adds to the weapon’s overall durability and damage. Here’s a quick table of the differences between the Draugr Fang’s different levels:
| Level | Durability | Pierce Damage | Poison Damage |
| 1 | 100 | 47 | 5 |
| 2 | 150 | 50 | 10 |
| 3 | 200 | 53 | 15 |
| 4 | 250 | 56 | 20 |
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As you can see, at level 4 the Draugr Fang is twice as durable and deals four times the Poison Damage. At fully-leveled Draugr Fang is a beast of a weapon that gives you the ability to take down virtually any enemy in the game single-handedly. But to get to that level of power, you’re going to need crafting materials — a whole lot of them.
To upgrade the best Valheim bow to the highest possible level, you’ll first need a level 5 Forge. Then, it’s time to head back to the Swamp biome for a whole lot of grinding.
One upgrade to the Draugr Fang will cost you:
- 14 Deer Hide
- 40 Ancient Bark
- 22 Guck
- 80 Silver
In all, you’ll need 44 Deer Hide, 130 Ancient Bark, 76 Guck, and 260 Silver to get a fully-upgraded Draugr Fang Bow (including original crafting materials). But at the end of the grind, you’ll have what is easily the most powerful late-game weapon in all of Valheim.
The Best Arrows for the Draugr Fang Bow
Arrows in Valheim can be divided into two categories: Elemental and Non-elemental. Check out this table where we compare the different arrows:
| Arrow Type | Total Damage | Damage Type | Knockback |
| Wood | 22 | Pierce | 10 |
| Flinthead | 27 | Pierce | 10 |
| Bronzehead | 32 | Pierce | 10 |
| Ironhead | 42 | Pierce | 10 |
| Obsidian | 52 | Pierce | 10 |
| Needle | 62 | Pierce | 15 |
| Fire (Elemental) | 33 | 11 Pierce/22 Fire | 10 |
| Poison (Elemental) | 78 | 26 Pierce/52 Poison | 10 |
| Silver (Elemental) | 72 | 52 Pierce/20 Spirit | 10 |
| Frost (Elemental) | 78 | 26 Pierce/52 Frost | 10 |
If you’re going for the best general purpose arrow for the best Valheim bow, then Needle and Obsidian arrows are perfect. Both are non-elemental arrows, meaning you don’t have to worry about your enemies’ elemental resistances potentially reducing their damage output. Needle arrows actually require fewer crafting resources than Obsidian arrows, but you have to be strong enough to farm Deathsquitos to get them.
When you’re facing Spirit enemies, then Silver is your go-to arrow type. It gives you the same base Pierce damage of Obsidian with an added 20 Spirit damage.
The greatest damage potential comes from Poison and Frost arrows — each can do 78 total damage. However, this is damage over time that comes from the Poison or Frost effect (depending on the arrow type). When used against an enemy with a natural resistance to the arrow’s elemental effect, Frost/Poison arrows only dish a measly 26 points of damage — only four points higher than the worst arrow type in the game.
Huntsman Bow vs Draugr Fang
Are you looking for an upgrade to your Finewood Bow? Before you start collecting the materials for the Huntsman Bow, here’s some important information for you to consider first:
| Finewood Bow | Huntsman Bow | Draugr Fang Bow | |
| Damage (Min/Max) | 32/41 | 42/51 | 52/76 |
| Damage Type | Pierce | Pierce | Pierce/Poison |
| Range | Good | Great | Very Good |
Compared to the Finewood Bow, the Huntsman Bow is an upgrade to Damage and Range. The Huntsman Bow has excellent accuracy even at long ranges, meaning you can pick off enemies from distance with ease. Damage-wise, a fully upgraded Finewood Bow is comparable to an unrefined Huntsman Bow.
If you’ve already got a max level Finewood Bow, you should think about skipping the Huntsman Bow entirely and going straight to crafting the Draugr Fang. At the highest level, the range and arrow drop on your Finewood Bow isn’t that much worse than a Huntsman. And the time you spend gathering resources to upgrade a Huntsman Bow to level four might be better spent finding the materials to craft a Draugr Fang outright.
Hopefully, we’ve armed you with everything you need to get your hands on the best Valheim bow. Stay alive and happy hunting!
